Premier League Clubs Still Signing Gambling Sponsors Despite UK Government Scrutiny

Premier League clubs continue to sign sponsorship deals with unlicensed gambling operators despite growing scrutiny from the U.K. government, highlighting how lucrative partnerships remain while regulatory action remains uncertain.

Teams are still striking these deals, with Newcastle United being the latest to do so. The club partnered with 8Xbet late last month, making the brand its official Asian betting partner.

Sponsorship Economics Still Favour Gambling Brands

A sports sponsorship expert who has tracked gambling’s relationship with soccer over many years is blunt about why teams continue to partner with unlicensed gambling operators.

Sean Connell of The Sponsor told Gambling Insider:

“For many Premier League clubs, particularly those outside the very top tier, sponsorship income is a critical part of the financial model. It directly affects transfer budgets and therefore competitive performance on the pitch.”

He added,

“From a sponsorship perspective, the experience of the front-of-shirt gambling ban tells us something important about how clubs respond to regulation timelines. As long as partnerships remain legal, clubs will generally continue to take the revenue available to them.”

On the question of whether the U.K. government’s announcement will change anything, he is equally direct:

“If there is still regular uncertainty around so-called Asian betting partners, we should expect clubs to continue signing or renewing those deals for as long as they remain permissible. Historically, in sponsorship markets, the flow of money rarely stops until regulation clearly makes a category illegal.”

Government’s Unclear Plan

Connell’s assessment comes as the U.K. government has begun examining whether such partnerships should be restricted.

U.K. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy first announced last month the government’s intention to fight back against gambling-related sponsorship in sports. She said that having these brands sponsoring the big football clubs is “not right.”

However, the announcement included few details about how or when the government might act. The government said a consultation will begin at some point in spring 2026 and that it will release a report afterward.

Lawmakers pointed to the usual issues with U.K. residents using black-market sites. Those include links to organized crime, a lack of responsible gambling controls, and no mandatory financial vulnerability checks. They believe a ban on these companies sponsoring British sports teams will significantly reduce the brands’ visibility.

EPL teams clearly are not rushing to distance themselves from unlicensed operators. Many have deals in place that run for another few years, and Newcastle’s 8Xbet partnership shows that clubs are continuing to strike new deals.

The government will need time to implement any changes that emerge from its consultation. That is, if officials introduce any changes at all.

Clubs Will Keep Gambling Deals Until Regulation Forces Change

In April 2023, the EPL decided to voluntarily ban gambling sponsors from appearing on the front of shirts starting in the 2026/2027 season. That decision provides a clear roadmap for what would happen if authorities introduced a total ban on unlicensed brands.

Clubs continue to maintain their existing arrangements and even renew them right up until the deadline. Of the 20 EPL teams, 11 currently feature gambling sponsors on their shirts. Five of these operators do not currently hold U.K. licences.

Teams continue to work with these companies because the sponsorship deals are highly lucrative. In some cases, these agreements represent record-value sponsorships for the clubs involved.

According to The Sponsorship, AFC Bournemouth, which finished ninth in the EPL last season, earns a reported £6.1 million ($8.1 million) annually from its deal with BJ88. This figure is “49% above market value” for this type of mid-table team.

Data from The Sponsor suggests the front-of-shirt gambling ban will reduce the market value of those sponsorship slots by as much as 38% for clubs that currently carry betting brands. One commercial director, speaking to The Sponsor, confirmed that their highest offer from a non-gambling brand was less than half that of a gambling sponsor.

Authorities also warned clubs about working with unlicensed operators. When the Gambling Commission warned clubs in May 2025 that their TGP-affiliated sponsors could expose them to prosecution, those same clubs continued displaying the brands on their shirts throughout the remainder of the season.

Everton kept Stake.com’s logo on their shirts long after the operator lost its U.K. licence. Sunderland continued with W88. The warnings produced no material change in commercial behavior.

The “Asian Betting Partner” Loophole

Some partnerships barely register on official partner pages. An investigation by The Guardian last year found that clubs including Aston Villa, Chelsea, Sunderland, Leeds, and Nottingham Forest displayed advertisements for Asian betting brands on stadium perimeter boards while omitting any public mention of the deal.

Chelsea disclosed its relationship with 8Xbet. Still, reports indicated that its separate arrangement with Kaiyun only appeared on the club’s website when users accessed it from select Asian IP addresses.

Aston Villa listed Nova88, a brand that positions itself as the best online casino in Malaysia, as its Official Asian Betting Partner in a pre-season statement. Then it quietly removed any mention from its partner section

Regulators will need to clarify the status of so-called Asian betting partners if the proposed ban is to have real teeth. Without that clarity, clubs will simply reframe existing commercial relationships to suggest they target overseas audiences. That will keep the money flowing.

Regulation Still a Work in Progress

The Gambling Commission took substantive action against TGP Europe last year. A £3.3 million ($4.4 million) penalty forced the major white-label operator out of the U.K. market entirely, which represents a significant enforcement outcome.

The government’s consultation, paired with the Illegal Gambling Taskforce, signals a more serious and coordinated attempt to address this issue than any previous effort.

The real test will be the timeline, the scope, and the willingness to follow through with legislation that clubs genuinely cannot work around. On that measure, the picture remains considerably less clear. As long as the consultation continues, clubs do not need to make any changes.

As long as lawmakers have not passed legislation, clubs can sign new deals with unlicensed operators. And as long as the Asian betting partner category remains legally ambiguous, clubs will use it. The flow of money, as the commercial history of gambling in Premier League football demonstrates, does not slow until regulation makes it unequivocally illegal.

The government has announced its intention to get there. The question is whether it will move fast enough to matter or whether, as has happened repeatedly before, clubs will extract every last pound available before the rules catch up.